page_title: Irish Mesolithic
section_title: Chronology & Technology
hierarchical_section_title: Irish Mesolithic / Later Mesolithic / Chronology & Technology
caption_attribution_description: English: Ulster Museum Mesolithic artefacts 8. Moss-side hoard. Moss-side near Ballycastle, Co. Antrim, Ireland.
context_page_description: The earliest known human burial in Ireland is dated to 7530-7320 BCE. It was on a bend of the River Shannon at Hermitage, County Limerick which shows the early inhabitants had begun to move inland along the rivers and were not confined to the sea shores at this early date. An adze in the burial is the earliest securely dated polished adze or axe found in Europe.
context_section_description: Prehistoric Ireland’s Later Mesolithic period begins sometime between 7000 BC and 6000 BC with the occurrence of a pan-Ireland and Isle of Man macrolithic (large stone flake/blade) stone tool tradition: no transitional industry has yet been identified that bridges the gap between this industry and the Early Mesolithic microlithic (very small flake/blade) industry that preceded it.
  The Later Mesolithic period ends around 4000 BC and is followed by a Neolithic lithic (stone tool) tradition based on hard and soft hammer percussion, indirect percussion, pressure flaking, and bifacing. As with the Early and Later Mesolithic, no artefacts have yet been found that represent a transition between the Later Mesolithic and Neolithic.
  Until recently there have been few signs of variation across the approximately 2,000–3,000 years that comprise the Later Mesolithic period – no identifiable trends toward regionalization or intensification, no noteworthy differences in settlement patterns across space or time. However, as with all static models of human society, this one has reflected data with analytical and interpretative limitations rather than certainty.
  The island's extensive bog and alluvial deposits have concealed informative settlement evidence and its acidic soils have decomposed and destroyed significant amounts of organic archaeological material. Furthermore, rising sea levels, which peaked between 4500 and 2000 BC, have eroded and submerged most of the coastal and estuarine evidence for foraging (hunting and gathering).
  These conditions, along with a historical bias towards research in northeastern Ireland, make it clear that the record is incomplete. However, the gaps are not evenly distributed across the entire period. Anderson and Johnson have pointed out that the best lithic data for the Later Mesolithic are associated only with its last 500 years (4500-4000 BC).
  Only at Newferry is there a chronological sequence which spans the known Later Mesolithic and except for zone 3, for which there are contemporary sites, there are no comparable assemblages for the remainder of the material. If all the contexted material relates to the final phases of a period which lasted for at least 2,000 years, then with the exception of a very few sites, none of which contain all the elements of a lithic assemblage, there is a possibility that the material representative of the first 1,500 years is missing.
  Thus, it is fair to say that much of the Later Mesolithic (c. 7-6000 - 4000 BC) is impressively underrepresented. Ironically, it is with the last part of the Later Mesolithic that some workers have become most frustrated, like Whittle, who was stymied by his research into Ireland's transition to the Neolithic:
  Much further research is needed, and the outlook is unfortunately gloomy. Key sites of the right date will be hard to locate in river valleys and estuaries, and the funding of problem-oriented research is not easy. We may have to wait patiently for chance discoveries of the appropriate kind.
  In truth, this pessimism might be better directed at the first three quarters of the Later Mesolithic, rather than the last quarter. The difference is not only in the availability of evidence, but also in the availability of new data arising from the evidence with the application of stable isotope analysis. Indeed, stable isotope analyses, in combination with the advantages of AMS dating, are cutting through the gloom and revealing glimpses of a surprisingly dynamic sixth millennium BP forager lifeway.
caption: The Moss-side hoard of Mesolithic Bann flakes, Ulster Museum
exif: {"Image Make": "LEICA", "Image Model": "V-LUX 20", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "180", "Image YResolution": "180", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Microsoft Windows Photo Gallery 6.0.6001.18000", "Image DateTime": "2013:08:01 19:19:14", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "2342", "Image PrintIM": "[80, 114, 105, 110, 116, 73, 77, 0, 48, 50, 53, 48, 0, 0, 14, 0, 1, 0, 22, 0, ... ]", "Image Tag 0xC6D2": "[0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, ... ]", "Image Tag 0xC6D3": "[0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, ... ]", "Image Padding": "[]", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "180", "Thumbnail YResolution": "180", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "15590", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "1827", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/30", "EXIF FNumber": "19/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "125", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2010:03:04 16:44:52", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2010:03:04 16:44:52", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "4", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "86/25", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Flash", "EXIF Flash": "Flash fired, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "79/10", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "3973", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "2644", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "15024", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "0/0", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "48", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "Low gain up", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF ImageUniqueID": "EC12D47B1ACB4C16BBFF85E6A599F9C3", "EXIF Padding": "[]", "EXIF OffsetSchema": "0"}